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You were right, this song isn't aimed towards alexander himself, rather its interpreted to have been sung by the leader of the pack of goblins that summoned alexander, cheering him on as the group fights him
I was mixed on this song the first time I heard it, but it grew on me fast during the fight. The presentation of it was incredible — when you first encounter the Alexander fight it plays orchestra music up until the phase transition and a massive, hulking version of Alexander rises up and suddenly your hear the sirens blaring as the track begins while he drops a massive laser beam on the arena. Suddenly, this entirely new track more in line with the rest of the Alexander raid musical experience drops in. It's a powerful, amazing feeling. I fell in love with this song because when I hear it, it puts me in Alexander mode. I hear this style of musical noise and think "Oh! Alexander!!"
My favorite version by far is the Primals version, especially for that funky bass line only in that version. I heard this song many, many times in the Ultimate fight as I spent 7 months learning the fight and every time that music felt into place I felt like I knew where I was, what I was doing, and it all just felt right. As other people mentioned, it's a shame that the time stops were not excluded because they added to the original experience; the time stop version of the track is always playing underneath the real song in-game so when Alexander stops time for a mechanic it seamlessly switches to the distorted version. All these tracks are in the game, even the Pulse versions even if they are not tied to actual fight encounters (you'll hear it at a lot of in-game night clubs).
Also! As for the music not feeling quite like Alexander, you're not exactly wrong. Alexander's actual music is more the orchestra version that plays at the start of the fight and this funky mechanical music is due to the goblins. In the story of FFXIV, Alexander is a powerful primal summon that was more or less hijacked by goblins which is why you get such funky lyrics and all these wild mechanical sounds in so much of the Alexander music. Within the Ultimate fight there is a new version, called 'Perfect Alexander' that plays an incredible Moebius orchestra track. After hearing all of these, I do like the Primals version and Pulse more; but the original has a special place in my heart for giving me those versions. Since you mentioned hearing all of them together, I recommend watching a playthrough of the Ultimate fight (Epic of Alexander) BGM only which has multiple phases with multiple versions of the tracks within it.
It's aight. In the game it feels better I think, and it does grow on you, but for me it doesn't come to mind when I think of the FF songs I love
For me, this one falls into the kinda "meh" category. It's not bad, but rap type music is just not my thing, and very few really ever click with me. Though the music itself without the lyrics (which is mostly all you hear through combat sound effects anyway) is good, with occasionally the chorus and the "sonic boom" cutting through. So because of that I've never really minded it in game. But it's not one I'd choose to listen to outside of the Alex fights.
This is another of those songs where they are pure BGM and lack the game effects and pauses that completes it. The Pause sound you see on the Primals is proof and example of that.
I actually didn't really like this song right away, but after enough times I think the hook got into me.
Finally my favorite Alexander ost❤❤❤
There is a newer version of the video from The Primals, but this time when they did the Time Stop mechanic, the entire audience also joined in and froze in place.
Pulse Remixes and other versions of songs such as Oblivion (Orchestral) are not in the game normally, but you CAN buy Orchestrion Rolls off of the Online Store and listen to them in-game via an Orchestrion player just as you can for a very large portion of the game's music.
It's really interesting to me that Jesse and I have the exact opposite take on the first version he listened to. He enjoyed the lyrics and felt like the background sounds were pretty generic, or low-energy. I would actually prefer to have the entirety of the vocals cut (after the SONIC BOOM) so I can just jam to the background music that gets fully drowned out by the hectic lyrics.
I think Rise in particular suffers a lot when you listen to it in a vacuum. It really needs the context behind it and theatrics of the raid itself.
thanks for using the skullgirls OST for your backing, always good to hear
This song definitely grew on me, but it still isn't anywhere near my top favorites in the game. Like you, the chorus is especially what really draws me to the song. Otherwise, It was good for that raid and that boss, because the focus was on the mechanical nature of Alexander and the goblins who summoned it. So, the industrial feeling definitely fits. The other versions are definitely better than the one that plays during the boss battle. The Pulse one especially to me. I don't know if you've reacted to Sunrise, but you should hear the Pulse version of it is also well worth a listen.
You can listen to the other versions in-game, but only in specific places. You can't switch them out during a battle or anything. You can buy the songs to play them inside player homes and places like that.
On another Primals performance when the time stop part happens, the crowd also plays along.
You can get the pulse tracks from the online store to play in game.
I have such a strong attachment to this song, but it's definitely influenced by how it gets presented in game. It gets introduced in the second half of the fight after more traditional sort of 'epic boss music' you could imagine. Then he does his huge attack and the screen lights up and the music comes back with the SONIC BOOM! Plus the time stop stuff that breaks up the music with Alexander's own time stop attacks is so cool. It just leaves a huge impression that just the song straight by itself doesn't give.
Also Alexander is the summon/primal of a bunch of evil goblins so the style of the song and 'gobbies gonna rise up' stuff is pretty neatly tied in.
Still nice you checked it out and don't have to worry so much if something doesn't jive.
One of the core themes of all of the Alexander raid songs is Time, which I feel is represented by the repetition in the main songs of the set.
The song definitely grew on me. I'm not in love with it at all still, but compared before my initial distaste for it, it's definitely better now. When this came out after the Brute Justice theme and Moebius, it felt like a huge downer to me. I don't like any kind of rap, and it didn't help as well. But then it reminded me of that Uematsu final boss battle of Lost Odyssey you reviewed (Howl of the Departed), which imo is way more crazy and awesome, but it's still similar vibes to me, and I came to terms with it. And like you, mostly the chorus really, the rest I'm kinda "meh", and the whole song would feel like that to me without it.
7:40 The reason why the band stopped moving is because Alexander's iconic move is to stop time completely while it can move freely. There is actually another version of this that came later on where even the audience actually stopped moving along with the band.
No hard feelings, this one wasn't my fave of the Alexander songs.
The fight itself was great, but for me all the other ones like brute justice etc were more my favorites. But hey, can't be 10/10 for all of the hundreds of songs. And there's nothing wrong with that 🙂
I think, just a guess, is that because Alexander in FF14 has so much to do with goblins "gobbies " and they are all engineers and about tinkering with technology, maybe that's why it's more techno/edm style. At least opposed to Any other raids/bossss, aside from perhaps Omega or something.
24:20 damn you jesse, now i want pizza 🙁
I’m definitely of the opinion that the song is cool but as a part of the fight! It’s core strength is hearing the songs dynamic layers based on what’s happening on screen (the whole intro riff is timed to the bosses entrance)
7:41 what's special there is Alexander's theme is manipulating time and there's a mechanic where he stops time while fighting you
and they incorporated that in the live performance
Most mid Alexander ost
Its definately a grower, but weird that the first video didn't have the time-stop mechanic. Also definitely agree its for FFXIV players, its written in Goblin language and last in the Alexander raid, so players would have already heard 5-6 tracks in here.
Pretty sure buying the Pulse Album gives you codes to get the music in game as well.
Oh sorry I had the music way up, we are ff14 players jessie we only complain if the music isnt maxd out.
Rise was a song that I loved from the start, but a lot of that love comes from experiencing how it is presented in the game itself. This isn't actually the whole thing per say. Mobius plays for the first part of the fight, and it isn't until you clear that phase that you hear this song. Essentially, Alexander's full body comes out from the mist below the stage as Mobius comes to an end, and for a few seconds the game is quiet. Then, Rise begins with the first few notes that almost sound like a warning siren, and Alexander starts counting down the seconds before unleashing a huge attack. At that particular moment, when the content was fresh, you had to have your party's tank use an ability that protects the entire party or you'd all die. With the way it timed out, it was an incredibly tense moment while you hoped that the tank got the timing right and that you'd survive. From there on, the music kicked into full gear and the adrenaline rush you had from making it past that part really helped make the theme as memorable as it ended up being.
I can't hear this song without thinking about those first few moments of the main phase of the fight. Without those memories though, I think the song would have much less of an impact on me.
Alexander would make a Titan from 40K blush…
When the primal version goes fucking hard when u have to execute Wormhole Formation in TEA? That is when I realized this song slaps like a mother fucker… my favorite.
The Pulse remix of Rise is the song that plays when anyone comes into my house in FFXIV
The Pulse versions are technically in game, but only as scrolls bought through the Online Store. They are not looted, crafted, or bought anywhere in the game itself.
Canonically, Goblins sing this song, which is why the lyrics are so weird.
This song is very context heavy from the game
Have you done brute justice?
Gonna have to find that 1 cause it 1 of my favorite
What song is playing during your analysis section?
Side Note: As a long time xiv player, this song isn't my favorite either. I only like Sonic Boom, after that my ears kind of tune the rest out. My 1st time hearing the pulse remix though, that's the superior version to me.
I think songs like this showcase something really important about soundtracks: it's music composed to be heard in a very specific context. It allows to take different decisions that maybe you wouldn't when composing a song for an album, because the intention is completely different. As someone who loves music so much I really enjoy seeing these different mindsets and applications and how you can use music as a tool to achieve many different effects, not just making a banger.
There's definitely a lot of average music in this game that just works for its purpose, as expected in a game with so much music, but I think songs like this one are so loved because of the experience they create in a certain context, and the story they help telling. This one was a pretty bold decision that makes little sense if you don't know about the XIV goblins, so it was really refreshing getting the honest opinion of a non-player. Keep up with the great work!
Rise is sung by the goblins, not Alexander. They've been worshipping it like a god and wanting to use it to bring in the "age of the gobbies" which'll basically make them the rulers of the world. Silly stuff but fun stuff. The ticking and pauses are to do with Alexander's time abilities which are the majority of his attacks along with the "sonic boom" which is his holy attack which causes a sonic boom when it fires. The start of the song begins when Alexander starts counting down an attack and when the attack fires the lyrics start: "Sonic BOOM".
Long story short: it's really hype especially when you know the raid AND songs were made on extreme crunch so you appreciate their efforts a hell of a lot more.
The context adds to it a lot, but yeah this song grows on you for each time you hear it.
Also the "time stop" happens quite a few times during the fight, which adds to the overall feel of the song.
i think this song grew on me, as i was progging the ultimate fight the primals version plays in phase 3, this song is actually in my top 5 songs of this game, speaking of the ultimate, its definitely worth checking it out as well, since you've reacted to an ultimate fight before, ultimate fights in this game are a musical spectacal
This dude talks about being a little too generic meanwhile all of his intros are the exact same word for word. Ok buddy
If you plan on reacting to Moebius then I would suggest you react to "The Epic of Alexander" as it is a gauntlet of several OSTs you should recognize while also leading up to Moebius
would be smth like you did with Ultimas Reprise (Ultimate) and Id be really hyped to see it.
That aside awesome reaction like always and to answer the question, "Rise" had to grow on me, took some time but the Chorus had me from the beginning
When I listen to Alexander-related songs, I like to listen them in order, they way I was going through the raid, as each one is providing something new. But as it is a game, it's responding to the context. And the music is not really about Alexander (we mostly fight inside that giant machine) but about Gobbies (goblins xD) clank clanks whizz boom gobbieboom sonic boom metal and all that stuff 😀 so no worries that you didn't enjoy it so much in a separate way. There are songs in XIV we learn to love after some time too 🙂
and yes, we have a country song too 😀
Answering what you asked about liking it from the start or not. I 100% hated it when it first released. I couldn't stand it. It really grew on me over time and I eventually went from not liking it to really loving it. Then I got to watch the concert (the one shown in the music video) and if there was any dislike left this version, as well as the cool way they did the time stop, was completely removed to just 100% liking it.
To answer your question: I was okay with the song at first, but it grew on me more and more.
my gods is that one of my requests :3
I hope that since you've been doing reactions like these to songs with multiple versions, when you get to Seven Rings in Hand from Sonic and the Secret Rings that you do all three versions with the original, Crush 40, and Fairy Tales in Trance remix.
Same feeling – it grows on you. Hated it at the start.
Are the pulse remixes in the game? Not during the actual content no. But you can buy orchestration rolls of the tracks that you can play like in the house or something on the music player.